WEBVTT TO THE DES MOINESINTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND TAKENTHROUGH THESE GATES BEHIND ME SOHE COULD BE HONORED PROPERLY.>> THE OKLAHOMA HAS CAPSIZED ANDTURNED OVER.TOMMIE: FIREMAN 1ST CLASSWILLIAM OR "WILLY" KENNEDYSERVED 75 YEARS AGO AT THE AGEOF 24.THE IOWA NATIVE DIED IN 1941WHEN THE JAPANESE ATTACKED THEUSS BATTLESHIP OKLAHOMA IN PEARLHARBOR.>> MOST EVERY SHIP IN THE HARBORHAS BEEN HIT.TOMMIE: NOW, HE HAS FINALLY BEENIDENTIFIED AND WILL BE LAID TOREST.A COFFIN WITH HIS REMAINS WASHONORED THURSDAY MORNING BY THENAVY HONOR GUARD.THEY ACTED AS THE PALLBEARERSESCORTING THE COFFIN TO A, HEARSE.>> IT'S JUST A TREMENDOUS HONORTO BE ABLE TO SERVE IN THATCAPACITY TO DO WHAT THEY DID TO, PASS ON THAT TRADITION ANDTHAT HONOR AND THAT SENSE OFDUTY. TOMMIE: THE PATRIOT GUARD RIDERSTHEN TOOK THEIR TURN TO ESCORTTHE HEARSE, HEADING THREE HOURSNORTH TO KENNEDY'S FINAL BURIALSITE, A PLOT AND GRAVESTONEDECADES OLD WAITING FOR HIM, INTITONKA.>> ANYBODY THAT STEPS UP TOSERVE AND ULTIMATELY PAYS THESACRIFICE OF THEIR LIFE TO THICOUNTRY IS IMPORTANT WHETHER IT

An Iowan who served during Pearl Harbor 75 years ago has finally come home.
The remains of Fireman 1st Class William "Willy" Kennedy were flown Thursday to the Des Moines International Airport. Kennedy’s family members told KCCI that they never thought Kennedy would come home and that honoring their long-lost family member is something they cannot believe is finally happening. "It was an honor to serve, and he gave the most,” family member Dick Graham said. “That's it." Kennedy’s remaining family, mainly cousins who never knew him, said they grew up hearing stories about him and that their parents wanted nothing more than for their hero to come home. "We get a little teary-eyed and melancholy, but mostly we are just jubilant that we are alive to see this happen,” family member Mary Helgevold said. Part of that family includes Iowa State Trooper McNally. "Willy was a very, very special man and he did give the ultimate sacrifice even though it was back in the 1940s,” McNally said. As the plane landed with his coffin, Kennedy's family was not alone. The Navy Honor Guard acted as the pallbearers, rendering honors and escorting the coffin to the hearse. "(It) really tugs at your heart strings to feel how grateful they are and to be a part of it,” Chief Petty Officer Matt Nemmers said. The Patriot Guard Riders then took their turn to escort the hearse, heading three hours north to his burial site, with his family, in Titonka. "Anytime someone is killed in action, it depends where they bring them in and where they need to go, (but) we're going to be there for them,” said Steve Cox, state captain of Patriot Guard Riders of Iowa. Kennedy is no longer missing in action but on his way home. His family said the dignified transfer is the closure they needed. "It's family,” McNally said. “It's also being able to bring closure not just for family, but for a whole community, for a state (and) for a nation. These guys served with honor and to bring them back where they need to be is very, very special." Kennedy’s funeral will be held in Titonka Friday. He will be buried in a plot with the gravestone his mother got decades ago.

DES MOINES, Iowa —

An Iowan who served during Pearl Harbor 75 years ago has finally come home.

The remains of Fireman 1st Class William "Willy" Kennedy were flown Thursday to the Des Moines International Airport.

Kennedy’s family members told KCCI that they never thought Kennedy would come home and that honoring their long-lost family member is something they cannot believe is finally happening.

"It was an honor to serve, and he gave the most,” family member Dick Graham said. “That's it."

Kennedy’s remaining family, mainly cousins who never knew him, said they grew up hearing stories about him and that their parents wanted nothing more than for their hero to come home.

"We get a little teary-eyed and melancholy, but mostly we are just jubilant that we are alive to see this happen,” family member Mary Helgevold said.

Part of that family includes Iowa State Trooper McNally.

"Willy was a very, very special man and he did give the ultimate sacrifice even though it was back in the 1940s,” McNally said.

As the plane landed with his coffin, Kennedy's family was not alone. The Navy Honor Guard acted as the pallbearers, rendering honors and escorting the coffin to the hearse.

"(It) really tugs at your heart strings to feel how grateful they are and to be a part of it,” Chief Petty Officer Matt Nemmers said.

The Patriot Guard Riders then took their turn to escort the hearse, heading three hours north to his burial site, with his family, in Titonka.

"Anytime someone is killed in action, it depends where they bring them in and where they need to go, (but) we're going to be there for them,” said Steve Cox, state captain of Patriot Guard Riders of Iowa.

Kennedy is no longer missing in action but on his way home. His family said the dignified transfer is the closure they needed.

"It's family,” McNally said. “It's also being able to bring closure not just for family, but for a whole community, for a state (and) for a nation. These guys served with honor and to bring them back where they need to be is very, very special."

Kennedy’s funeral will be held in Titonka Friday. He will be buried in a plot with the gravestone his mother got decades ago.